A review by pacifickat
Walking to Aldebaran by Adrian Tchaikovsky

adventurous dark funny reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

"His alien spirit would travel far, into the Fiend's keeping." -Beowulf

Thoroghly enjoyed the author-narrated audiobook. Sci-Fi short fiction is truly one of my favorite sub-genres, and this didn't disappoint. It's witty, smart, and irreverent even as it plays with great literary stories and tropes.
The twist was fun and horrible, even if I saw it coming a long way off. I love a well executed use of an unreliable narrator!


I know Tchaikovsky is a smart dude, and was trying to figure out how
monster horror
fit into a more clever overarching story. The novella feels like part twisted hero quest, meets Alice In Wonderland, Howl's Moving Case, The Martian, Frankenstein, and Shaun of the Dead. He sprinkles on references to other literary works, as well as forboding mentions of "intelligent design" and the theory of relativity. I knew I was missing some obvious point. In the end, it was another reviewer who mentioned
his name being G. Rendell, his many references to Mother, and his arm being torn off: Beowulf.
Duh. This is a play on that ancient tale. I'd like to think that given enough time and patience, I would have figured that out myself.

Now I want to re-read it and pick out all the references and easter eggs.
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